To give and to forgive

Aaah, 6 January 2006. In Spain, it is the day of the wise men - from the Wise men from the east in the Bible - or in Spanish: el dia de los reyes magos. It is the time when children (ok, adults as well) get their presents, not in Christmas from Santa Claus but on 6 Jan from the wise men. If you are here at this moment, you will see that it is indeed the time for giving.

By definition, ´to give´ means to make a present of. (courtesy of www.m-w.com). It is a time when people give presents to their loved ones, whether it is (mostly) the children, families or friends. But really, what we give is actually our love. It is truly a generous and sympathetic demostration of love, affection and attention.

What is interesting to me is that from etymology point of view, the word ´give´ shares the same root in the Old English with the word ´forgive´: gifan.

In a way, it makes perfect sense. When we forgive someone, we do give a piece of ourselves to that person.

Amazingly, it works both ways. When we give, we might also need to forgive them - if by any chance we do not get something in return, or even worse.

So people, remember: giving is a one way process, unfortunately. When we give, we give. We do not expect something in return, unless you are in somekind of a business deal. If you do get something, great. Do forgive them (and yourself), if you do not.

Though on a side note, I do believe there is such thing as karma. But this is between me (or us) and The Boss Upstairs, which at the end of the day is all that matters.